U.S. patent number 4,508,027 [Application Number 06/563,081] was granted by the patent office on 1985-04-02 for portion dividing frying basket.
Invention is credited to Frederick B. McCord.
United States Patent |
4,508,027 |
McCord |
April 2, 1985 |
Portion dividing frying basket
Abstract
A frying basket large enough to contain two or three individual
servings of a food product is equipped with a pair of removable
partitions including basket divider portions and right angular
basket cover portions. When in place on the frying basket, two or
three individual servings can be cooked simultaneously in the
basket without intermixing, and when completely cooked, the
individual servings can be dispensed one at a time from the basket
while the remaining servings are retained in the basket for further
cooking and subsequent dispensing. One or two of the removable
partitions can be utilized with a standard size frying basket. The
arrangement avoids the necessity for reweighing or recounting
individual servings after cooking and avoids delivering unequal
servings to customers.
Inventors: |
McCord; Frederick B. (Macon,
GA) |
Family
ID: |
24249037 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/563,081 |
Filed: |
December 19, 1983 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
99/416; 220/543;
99/418; 99/448; 99/450; D7/667 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47J
37/1295 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47J
37/12 (20060101); A47J 037/12 () |
Field of
Search: |
;99/450,403,410-418,448,449,426 ;220/19,22,22.1,22.2,22.3
;D7/47,356,409 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wilhite; Billy J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Newton, Hopkins & Ormsby
Claims
I claim:
1. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket of the type
having foraminous upstanding sides and ends, a foraminous bottom
and open at its top, so that the partition separates premeasured
individual food servings being cooked in the basket for retaining
one serving in the basket while an adjacent cooked serving is being
dumped from the basket, said partition unit comprising an L-shaped
unit consisting of substantially right angular, rigidly connected
panels formed of foraminous material, one of said panels being of
dimensions to be removably received in said basket for extending
between said sides, spaced from and generally parallel to the ends
of said basket, the other of said panels being of dimensions to
extend across a portion of said open top of said basket for
arresting food in a part of said basket when the basket is
inverted, a lifting handle fixed on the partition unit to
facilitate placing it in cooperative relationship with a frying
basket and means for removably connecting a perimeteral portion of
one of said panels to the said basket for arresting such partition
unit when the basket is inverted.
2. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket to separate
premeasured individual food servings being cooked in the basket and
to retain one serving in the basket while an adjacent fully cooked
serving is being dumped from the basket, said partition unit
comprising an L-shaped unit consisting of substantially right
angular, rigidly connected panels being joined at a junction and
formed of foraminous material and a lifting handle on the partition
unit to facilitate placing it in cooperative relationship with a
frying basket, said handle being attached to the partition unit at
the juncture of said panels and extending from the exterior of the
unit at said juncture.
3. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket as defined in
claim 2, and said handle lying in a common plane with one of said
panels of the partition unit.
4. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket as defined in
claim 3, and said one panel tapering somewhat toward its free end,
and the other panel being substantially rectangular.
5. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket as defined in
claim 4, and a locator and stabilizing pin for the partition unit
on the free end of said one panel and adapted to enter a wire mesh
opening in the bottom of a basket.
6. A partition unit for use with a food frying basket as defined in
claim 5, and a pair of locator elements on the opposite sides of
the partition unit adjacent to said juncture and being adapted to
engage over the top edges of the side walls of a frying basket.
7. In a frying basket for plural premeasured individual food
servings, an elongated open top foraminous frying basket having a
handle, at least one substantially L-shaped foraminous partition
unit including a divider panel engageable in the frying basket to
divide the same into separated food serving compartments and a
substantially right angular food serving retaining panel spaced
from the bottom of the container and integrally, rigidly connected
by a common edge to said divider panel overlying at least a portion
of the open top of said basket, whereby when the basket is inverted
to dump therefrom one food serving, a second food serving can be
retained within the basket for further cooking and subsequent
dumping; and means extending from spaced edge portions of said unit
for retaining said partition unit on said basket when said basket
is inverted.
8. In a frying basket as defined in claim 7, and a lifting handle
and locator and stabilizing elements on said foraminous partition
unit.
9. In a frying basket as defined in claim 7, and a pair of said
foraminous partition units each including said divider panel and
food serving retaining panel, whereby said basket is divided into
three separated food serving compartments for simultaneous cooking
of three food servings and sequential delivery thereof from said
basket following complete cooking of each food serving while said
partition units retain the incompletely cooked food servings in the
basket for further cooking and subsequent delivery.
10. A device for separating premeasured individual food servings in
a food frying basket and for retaining in the basket an
incompletely cooked food serving while a completely cooked food
serving is being dumped from the basket while the basket is
inverted, said device comprising a formaminous, substantially right
angular unit formed of foraminous material and having a first panel
adapted to serve as a frying basket divider and a second panel
integrally connected in a fixed position to said first panel along
a common edge therewith, said second panel adapted to partially
cover the open side of a frying basket and to serve as a food
serving retainer when the basket is inverted.
11. A device as defined in claim 10, and a lifting handle on the
device.
12. A device as defined in claim 10, and said foraminous material
comprising wire mesh, and said panels including substantially rigid
marginal frames to which said mesh is attached.
13. A food frying basket assembly having a frying basket of the
type having a rectangular basket with opposed upstanding sides and
opposed upstanding ends joning the ends of said sides, a bottom all
formed of foraminous material, the bottom being joined to the sides
and ends and a handle connected to one end of said basket by means
of which the basket is lifted and inverted to discharge food
carries in the basket, wherein the improvement comprises a
partition unit for removable installation on said basket, said
partition unit including a pair of diverging panels joined together
along a common edge and being in a fixed angular position with
respect to each other, one of said panels protruding through the
open top into the basket, said one of said panels, when said
partition unit is installed on said basket, extending from said
common edge, downwardly into and across the interior of said basket
between intermediate portions of said sides and forming a partition
spaced from said ends for separating the food received in said
basket; the other of said panels, when said partition unit is
installed on said basket, being spaced from the bottom of said
basket and extending from said common edge over one portion of the
interior of said basket, said other of said panels protruding
toward one of said ends; and means for removably retaining said
partition unit on said basket when said basket is inverted so that
said panels retaining the food in the portion of said basket over
which said other of said panels extends.
14. The food frying basket assembly defined as claim 13 including a
handle protruding from said common edge outwardly of said basket,
when said partition unit is installed on said basket.
15. The food frying basket assembly defined in claim 13 wherein the
last mentioned means includes members extending from spaced
locations on said unit and engaging opposite sides of said basket
for removably retaining said unit on said basket.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In restaurants, foods such as shrimp, chicken livers and the like
are received in bulk packages. The bulk packages must be broken
down by counting or weighing the product into individual servings
of a specified size. The individual servings are re-packaged, ready
for cooking, as needed. In many instances, a special worker is
required to handle this preparation of individual servings from the
bulk package.
Deep fat friers are widely employed to cook the above foods in hot
shortening, a wire basket being employed to submerge the product in
the shortening. Although the basket commonly used has a capacity
for several individual servings, no means is provided to separate
the servings or portions while cooking. Therefore, after cooking,
the product must be reweighed or recounted before serving to assure
the correct and uniform size of the serving to customers.
Unfortunately, in many instances, particularly in rush periods,
customers receive short portions, which in turn leads to customer
complaints.
The objective of the present invention is simply to deal completely
and successfully with the above problem in a restaurant while
enabling the continued use of a standard size frying basket without
the necessity of redesigning or changing the standard construction
thereof. The invention, which is embodied in a removable partition
and cover element for the basket, enables the simultaneous cooking
in the basket of several individual servings and also enables the
delivery onto a plate or the like of equal size individual
servings, one at a time, after complete cooking, while retaining
remaining servings in the basket in a separated state until
complete cooking thereof is accomplished, after which the remaining
equal size servings are dispensed from the basket one at a
time.
The partition or divider unit does not preclude use of the basket
for cooking a single large order of a food product when this is
required. In this case, the partition unit is separated from the
basket and set aside.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent
to those skilled in the art during the course of the following
description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a standard frying basket
employed with a serving dividing and retaining partition unit
according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the basket and partition
unit, with the latter in one position of use.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention showing the retention
of one serving of a food product while dumping another serving.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing the shifting of a
retained individual serving to another position in the basket.
FIG. 5 is a further side elevational view showing the placement of
an uncooked individual serving in a compartment of the basket.
FIGS. 6 through 9 are a schematic sequence of side elevational
views illustrating the use of a basket equipped with the partition
unit or units according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate
like parts, the numeral 20 designates a conventional food deep
frying basket which is substantially rectangular and elongated,
open at its top, and which has side and end walls 21 and 22 which
are slightly convergent downwardly. At one end, the basket 20 is
equipped with a sturdy lifting handle 23 formed of heavy wire which
projects above the top of the basket and beyond one end thereof.
The handle includes a generally vertical portion 24 which
reinforces the adjacent wire mesh end wall 22 and an underlying
horizontal portion 25 which extends along the basket bottom wall
and reinforces it. The basket is conventional, as stated, and is
sized according to restaurant industry requirements.
The invention proper is embodied in a partition unit 26 for use
with the standard basket 20. The partition unit is L-shaped in side
profile including wire mesh serving divider and cover panels 27 and
28 connected at right angles. The two mesh panels 27 and 28 have
stiff wire frames 29 and 30 to rigidify them, and the panel 27 is
slightly downwardly tapering to match the shape of the basket 20,
while the panel 28 is rectangular, and sized to extend across the
open top of the basket 20 between the two long side walls to cover
a portion of the open top when the divider panel 27 is engaged with
the bottom of the basket 20.
A lifting handle 31 for the partition unit 26 is provided thereon
at the juncture of the two right angular panels 27 and 28 and at
the transverse center of the unit. Two small dependent positioning
arms 32 on the opposite sides of the unit 26 are adapted to engage
over the tops of basket side walls 21 to stabilize the partition
unit on the basket during use. A depending locator pin 33 on the
bottom of divider panel 27 engages within one screen mesh aperture
of the basket bottom wall to further locate and stabilize the
partition unit 26 during the use of the invention.
As depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings, a pair of the
partition units 26 according to the invention is preferably
utilized on the standard size basket 20 to maximize efficiency.
However, if preferred, only a single unit 26 may be used with the
basket 20. A major feature of the invention is that the basket 20
can be used with or without the partition unit 26, and no design or
structural change whatsoever is required in the basket 20 to
accommodate the partition unit 26.
FIG. 2 shows the partition unit 26 in one position of use on the
basket 20 to divide or isolate one premeasured food serving 34 in
one chamber of the basket from another individual food serving 35,
forwardly of the divider panel 27.
FIG. 3 depicts the inverting of the basket 20 to dump therefrom one
measured serving of cooked food while retaining in the basket by
means of the unit 26 another measured serving 36.
FIG. 4 of the drawings shows how a retained food serving 36 can be
shifted to a storage or dumping position in the basket 20 by
lifting the partition unit 26 and tilting the basket 20. FIG. 5
shows a measured serving 37 of uncooked food being delivered into
the basket 20 in separated relationship to the serving 36 from a
single serving package 38.
While the uses of the partition unit or units 26 can be quite
varied, FIGS. 6 through 9 illustrate a typical sequence of steps in
utilizing the invention.
Referring to FIG. 6, as orders for fried food servings are received
in a restaurant, a first premeasured serving A is placed in the
basket 20 in its forward end portion and a first partition 26 is
installed so that its divider panel 27 isolates the serving A from
the remainder of the basket 20. The cover panel 28 spans and covers
the middle portion of the top of the basket 20. A bit later, a
second serving B of uncooked food is delivered from a package into
the middle portion of the basket 20 on the other side of the
divider panel 27. If a third food order is received, the basket 20
is tilted and shaken to move the second serving B forwardly toward
the first serving A and the third serving C is introduced into the
basket and a second partition unit 26 is installed with its divider
panel 27 separating servings B and C. The two partition units 26
define three serving compartments within the basket 20. As
previously stated, in many cases, it may be required to utilize
only one partition unit 26 in the basket 20 and this depends upon
the frequency at which food orders are received.
FIG. 7 shows the dumping or delivering of the first serving A from
the frying basket 20 onto a plate while utilizing the two partition
units 26 to retain the not fully cooked servings B and C within the
basket.
FIG. 8 shows the basket 20 after one partition 26 has been removed
to allow dumping of the serving B onto a plate or the like as
depicted in FIG. 9.
It should be realized that FIGS. 6 through 9 show only one manner
of using the invention, and that many variations of usage are
possible. For example, comparing FIGS. 2 and 9, the cover panel 28
of the unit 26 can extend forwardly or rearwardly on the basket 20
in accordance with convenience and necessity. The user of the
device, therefore, is not limited to a particular arrangement or
sequence of servings in the basket 20, and the user may improvise
with the invention to develop the most convenient procedures. In
any case, the partition unit 26 serves a dual purpose of dividing
servings of food within isolated compartments of the basket 20,
while the cover panel 28 functions to retain one food serving in
the basket while another serving is being dumped out, FIG. 3.
Another main benefit of the invention is that the use of the
partition unit actually accelerates the cooking of multiple orders
or servings in a multi-serving capacity basket. A second customer
and/or third customer need not wait for the full cooking time
required before the first-received order is fully cooked, and two
or three servings or orders are being cooked simultaneously. This,
in effect, doubles or triples the fry basket output, compared to
traditional practice without the invention.
It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith
shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the
same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement
of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of
the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.
* * * * *